Fate story breaker
by Buckbuck2
Summary: In one of the many timelines of the Holy Grail Wars, the Fifth Grail War looks... different than what we're used to.
1. Chapter 1: A Death in Fuyuki

On the grounds of a rather nondescript high school in Fuyuki, an interesting scene played out. Two warriors, one wielding a spear, the other a large sword, clashed, their weapons throwing sparks whenever they collided. In the ambient glow from nearby streetlights, those observing the fight could make out the two fighters.

The fighter with the spear was clad in dark blue armor, covering his entire body except for his mouth and a long blond ponytail. Gripped in his gauntleted hands was a spear made of some type of white metal which glowed with a soft white light. In all, his armor, his stern brown eyes, and they way he set his jaw all gave off the impression of a dragon observing its prey.

The spear-wielding warrior's opponent was vastly different. He was clad in a gray buttoned shirt, black slacks and shoes, and a tattered red cape. Held in his hands was a large sword. The blade of the sword had lines periodically running down its width, implying the blade was segmented in some way. Near the hilt was a set of exposed gears. The swordsman had an angular face, with red eyes and black hair streaked with gray. He had a small smirk on his face.

The two warriors' weapons crossed again, sparks flying as they both tried to gain the upper hand in their brief deadlock.

"You are rather interesting, Servant Archer," the spearman said. "Your kind is not known for being proficient in close combat."

"Could say the same for you," the other fighter, presumably Servant Archer, said. "You Lancers aren't exactly known for your spellcasting."

The spearman, Lancer, showed a small smile at that. "Touché," he said. With a flourish, Lancer disengaged, knocking Archer's sword to the side. Lancer brought his spear around and jabbed at Archer. However, Archer leaned out of the way just enough for the spear to miss running him through. The tip grazed his side, but glanced off a dark red barrier that sprung up around Archer's body. Archer's smirk grew as he brought his sword to bear, slamming the blade into Lancer's armored torso. The armor absorbed the blow, but it still knocked Lancer back a few steps. Lancer's eyes then narrowed as he focused on something over Archer's shoulder. Lancer dropped into a crouch, before jumping high into the air with a grunt.

Archer tracked Lancer's movement with his eyes, slightly bouncing on the balls of his feet in case he needed to dodge. He'd seen Lancer use this attack before- his left shoulder twinged from the memory. It certainly was not fun being impaled by a spear with that much force behind it. As Archer observed Lancer's jump, he determined that, unless Lancer had some way to change his tragectory, he wouldn't be hit. Instead, Archer followed with his eyes to where he figured Lancer would land.

Archer just barely caught a flash of red hair as he turned to face what he thought Lancer's target was. Archer's nigh omnipresent smirk faded. An innocent was here, observing his and Lancer's fight. And both Lancer and Archer knew what that meant. Archer sighed, sheathing his sword behind his back.

' _Archer!_ ' A female voice echoed in his mind. ' _What are you doing?!_ '

' _You don't see him?_ ' Archer asked. At the other voice's confused silence, he continued. ' _Behind the shack I'm facing. See him now?_ '

A gasp from the other voice. ' _An innocent._ '

Archer nodded. ' _Exactly. I'm pretty sure Lancer's got him covered, Master. So how about we leave now and hope Lancer doesn't notice we're gone?_ '

' _Not just yet,_ ' the female voice said. ' _Come to me, but we're staying here a little longer... to make sure Lancer kills him._ '

Archer could tell through the voice's hesitation that that wasn't the reason why she wanted to stay. But he shrugged and made his way to the voice's location anyway.

He was pretty well-versed in the whims of teenaged girls.

* * *

Shirou looked around in confusion. Archer... he wasn't there anymore; he'd just vanished. And Lancer-

Shirou barely heard the whistling in time. He rolled out of the way as Lancer slammed into the ground, burying his spear up to where his right hand, which was lower on the spear, was. The air whistling past his armor made just barely enough noise so Shirou could react in time.

With an annoyed grunt, Lancer yanked his weapon from the ground before holding it two-handed.

"It is regrettable that I must do this," he said. "But there can be no spectators of the War for the Holy Grail."

Lancer then jabbed at Shirou, who did the sensible thing in this situation.

He ran. And by the clanking of armor, Lancer followed. Shirou dove into the school building and slammed the door, quickly reinforcing it. By the way the door rattled on its hinges, Lancer had tried to stab through it. Shirou looked over his shoulder to admire his handiwork as he ran, just in time to see a beam of white light blow the door to bits. Shirou just managed to get his body into a nearby stairwell before another beam blasted past. He breathed a sigh of relief- he really did not want to learn what that would do to his body.

Shirou didn't stay still for long. He began to run up the stairs, hoping that he could lose the spearman inside the school. He picked up his pace when he heard the spearman's armored footsteps enter the stairwell. The clanking briefly stopped, before Shirou heard a grunt of exertion from Lancer as Shirou neared the second floor.

Shirou twisted his body out of the way as Lancer rocketed straight up, Shirou's twisting dodge allowing him to escape with a shallow cut on his right arm. He used the small window of opportunity to fall through the doorway into the second floor proper. Now Shirou just needed to find a place to hide-

" _Hold!_ " Lancer called out, his voice distorting slightly. As soon as Shirou heard that word, he felt an electric charge wash over his body, tensing his muscles to the point where he was locked in place. A split-second later a white spearhead erupted from Shirou's chest, right where his heart was. A cry of pain died within Shirou's unnaturally tight throat, but a second one escaped when Lancer ripped his spear from Shirou's body.

"And thus falls an innocent," Lancer said solemnly as Shirou's body went limp. He briefly bowed his head in respect before turning and leaving. He walked a few steps before muttering a word under his breath and vanishing. A few seconds later, a girl poked her head out from a nearby classroom. She turned her head to look one way down the hall, then the other, her dark hair swaying with the motion. When she saw Shirou's body laying on the floor, her breath hitched.

"Well, Archer, I found the innocent," she said, not taking her eyes off Shirou's body. Archer poked his head out a few inches higher than the girl's, and whistled lowly when he saw Shirou's body.

"Yep, Lancer definitely got 'im," Archer said. The girl walked into the hall and sat down heavily next to Shirou's body.

"You moron..." she muttered under her breath. She stared at the boy until she felt a hand fall heavily on her shoulder. Startled, she looked up at Archer. He had a grim expression on his face, and was pointedly not looking at the girl.

"C'mon, Rin," Archer said. "We need to leave. Lancer could come back at any minute, or some other Servant could find us."

Neither Archer nor the girl, Rin, moved.

"...I'm going to heal him," Rin said eventually. Archer nodded.

"That's probably not a good idea," he said. "But you're the Master. I'll get out of your way."

Rin felt Archer's hand lift from her shoulder. As if that was a cue, she dug out her necklace. Strung on it was a red, heart shaped gem. With a quick spell muttered under her breath, rid light began to fill the hallway. It slowly grew in intensity, before it was released in a bright flash. When Rin lifted her hands from where she had placed them over Shirou's heart, the wound was closed.

With somewhat stiff legs, Rin stood up and walked away. Shirou should wake up in a few minutes, and she did not want to be there when he did.

* * *

"So, you still live. And it appears you are a magus. Good."

Shirou rolled frantically out of the way of Lancer's spear. He scrambled around and picked up the first thing that his hands came across- a rolled up poster. Shirou reinforced it, making it as tough as steel. It probably wouldn't hold up for long against Lancer, though.

"How is it good that I'm a magus?!" Shirou asked Lancer.

"If you are a magus," Lancer said, casually blocking overhead strike, "I will feel no remorse for killing you."

Lancer then kicked Shirou in the chest, sending him flying through three shouji walls and into the Emiya compound's courtyard. Shirou slowly dragged himself to his feet, coughing in pain. Lancer calmly stepped through the holes Shirou's body had made.

"As I said before," Lancer said, lowering into a crouch, "there can be no witness of the War for the Holy Grail."

Lancer rocketed forwards, attempting to impale Shirou again. Yet, by some stroke of luck, Lancer slipped on a fragment of the walls he had kicked Shrou through, which threw off his aim just enough to completely miss Shirou.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Shirou ran into his shed, hoping to hide in there and hopefully avoid Lancer.

"I know you are within this shed," Lancer said. No such luck. Lancer kicked down the door to the shed, knocking Shirou flat on his back. Lancer positioned his spear to impale the prone Shirou. He reared back, and with a cry of effort stabbed downwards, intending to impale Shirou's heart for the second time-

With a flash of blue light, the faint smell of salt water, and a battle cry, a third figure jumped over Shirou and slammed into Lancer, sending him flying. With a chuckle at Lancer's flailing, Shirou's savior turned to look at him.

He had a yellow hoodie on, with a white hood that was currently down. He wore what looked like a combination of overalls and shorts, with one of the legs longer than the other. Black gloves backed with some kind of metal covered his hands, and a loose red mesh covered his right wrist up to mid bicep on the same arm. He had shaggy blonde hair and blue eyes. Held in his right hand was a sword, the blade of which was colored blue and almost looked like a wave in motion. He held his left hand out to Shirou.

"'Sup?" He asked Shirou. "I'm Saber. I guess you're my Master?"

* * *

 **Well, that's it for Chapter 1 of Fate/story breaker! I've had this idea pinging around in my brain for way too long, so I figured I'd finally write it!**

 **Yeah, this is your generic "Xth Holy Grail War but with fictional characters as the Servants" story, but I (and hopefully y'all) don't mind it!**

 **And if you figure out who the Servants are before I actually say who they are, you win the greatest prize of all: bragging rights!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Dragoon

"'Sup?" The newcomer asked Shirou. "I'm Saber. I guess you're my Master?"

"Y-yes?" Shirou stuttered. A sympathetic look crossed Saber's face.

"This all new to you?" Saber asked. Shirou nodded sheepishly. Saber chuckled.

"It's alright," Saber said. "I'll fill you in once I kick Lancer's teeth in."

"You are certainly welcome to try," Lancer said, finally managing to stand in a battle ready pose. "I certainly don't intend to lose."

"Funny," Saber said. "I was about to say the same thing."

Saber rushed Lancer, swinging his sword almost like a mace in an overhead strike. Lancer snapped his spear into a guard, bracing with both hands at the surprising force behind Saber's swing. Saber lashed out with his foot, but instead of trying to kick someone in full plate armor with an unarmored foot, he instead kicked off Lancer's chest to gain distance. Without ceremony, Lancer shot into the air. Saber's eyebrows went up with him.

"So you can do that too," he muttered. Saber then shot his hand in Lancer's direction, and said in a slightly warped voice, " _Slow!_ "

An indigo aura surrounded Lancer as he reached the apex of his jump, a faint image of a clock's hands slowing showing in the aura. Lancer briefly slowed in the air, before the clock shattered and the aura fled from Lancer's presence, and he went back to his original speed.

"Worth a shot," Saber said to himself. His voice warping again, he then said " _Haste!_ "

This time, an orange aura surrounded Saber, with an image of clock hands speeding up in the aura. Just before Lancer would have impaled Saber, he dashed backwards, far faster than he had moved before.

"Nice try, Dragoon," Saber said. "But I know how to fight against you and your type."

"That is a problem for me," Lancer said. "I could use my Noble Phantasm to win this fight, but my Master has forbidden me from using it. So I shall take my leave."

Saber rushed Lancer. "Oh no you don't!"

A small smirk crossed Lancer's face. " _Teleport._ "

And suddenly Saber's sword struck air. He made a frustrated noise. "I hate teleporters!" He said. Saber then stared angrily at where Lancer was.

"...you said you would explain this to me?" Shirou asked, in awe of the skirmish.

"Right! So, there's the-" Saber suddenly stopped talking.

"Saber? What's-" Shirou started.

" _Shh!_ " Saber interrupted. "There's another Servant."

"A what?" Shirou asked.

"An enemy with powers like mine," Saber quickly explained. "For some reason they're not coming in here. But we still need to drive them off."

Shirou nodded. Saber nodded back and shot off over the walls. Shirou could already hear the sounds of combat and blades clashing. He ran outside the gates, and saw Saber in frantic combat with Archer. But what gave Shirou pause was the person standing behind Archer.

" _Rin?_ " Shirou asked incredulously. Her eyes widened.

"You're a Master?" Rin asked him.

"I guess?" Shirou asked. "I don't really know what that means, though."

"Hold on," Archer said, disengaging from Saber. He looked at Rin. "Did you know he was a magus?"

"I doubt that even _he_ knew he was a magus," Rin said.

"I actually did know," Shirou said weakly.

"Well, that makes explaining things easier," Saber and Rin said simultaneously. Surprised, Archer and Saber looked at Rin. But before either could say anything, they both flinched and looked to the north.

"Servant," Archer said.

"They're coming in really fast, too," Saber noted. He looked at Archer. "You think it could be Rider?"

Archer shook his head. "The signature's a bit too... wild for Rider."

"Then who-?" Rin started.

"They're here!" Saber and Archer said in unison. A low, rumbling growl emanated from behind Shirou. The present quartet turned to look at the newcomer.

His skin was bone white, his lower half clad in the remains of a black kimono. Tufts of crimson fur encircled his wrists, and a long black sword was clenched in his right claw. Black markings on his chest and neck converged into an X at the hollow of his throat, at the center of which was a hole clean through his body. His form was framed by a mane of orange hair, and over his face was a white mask, with black lines going down over the eyeholes. Two bull-like horns erupted from the mask's forehead.

"Berserker," Rin breathed.

* * *

 **And that's it for chapter 2! Ooooh, a new Servant! I wonder who it could be?! Guess in the reviews!**

 **On a (slightly) more serious note, thank all of you that followed and favorited. That means so much to me. Other than that... yeah, not much for me to say. It's a bit shorter than I would like, but I saw a cliffhanger and I took it.**


	3. Chapter 3: Berserker

Saber's sword flew out of his grip, the force of the blow knocking him back. He braced himself to be cleaved in two, but Berserker's black blade slammed into Archer's, who had appeared to guard Saber as he recovered his sword. Saber nodded in gratitude to Archer, and returned to attack Berserker while Archer was on the defensive.

When Berserker had appeared, Archer had called a truce until Berserker was killed. Shirou and Saber had accepted wholeheartedly, and with only minor complaints from Rin. Speaking of the two Masters, they were trying desperately to keep their Servants in sight while Rin explained the Holy Grail War to Shirou. That was difficult for them, because Berserker was capable of moving at speeds most Riders would have trouble keeping up with. Thankfully Saber's spells allowed him and Archer to briefly match that speed, otherwise Berserker would have beaten them almost instantly.

Saber slammed his sword into Berserker's side. The impact did little but annoy Berserker, but the sword glowed blue, and suddenly a globe of high pressure water formed and exploded between the blade and Berserker, sending him flying. Archer wasted no time, pointing his blade at Berserker and pulling a trigger. With a sharp crack, a bullet flew from the muzzle of Archer's gun, which was built into his sword's crossguard. The bullet pierced through Berserker's left shoulder, spraying black blood onto the pavement.

"So he _can_ be hurt," Archer noted. His hopes quickly fell when a white liquid briefly covered Berserker's shoulder. When it receded, the bullet wound was gone. Archer quickly brought his sword up to block a wild swing from Berserker.

"Just my luck," he muttered. While he struggled against Berserker's sheer strength, Saber came up again and blasted Berserker away. With Berserker now occupied with Saber, Archer lined up another shot, blasting Berserker in his right knee. Berserker fell heavily onto that knee, but was still able to block an overhead swing from Saber while his wound regenerated. Before Berserker could get up and charge Archer, although, another bullet shot through the air, this time piercing his right claw and knocking his sword out of his hand. A brutal swing from Saber more akin to an uppercut smashed into Berserker's mask, dazing him. The subsequent blast of water bent Berserker over backwards, causing him to slam repeatedly into the ground head first. Multiple follow-up strikes from Saber merely added to the dazed Servant's momentum. He eventually came to a stop a few hundred feet away from Archer.

Archer narrowed his eyes. Yes, Berserker's claws _had_ just twitched; he wasn't out of the fight just yet. Slowly, Berserker rose, hunched over. Suddenly, with an ear-splitting roar, Berserker pointed his horns straight at Archer. Brilliant red energy began to gather between the tips of the horns, and both Archer and Saber could feel the sheer power packed into that slowly growing ball of energy.

"He's gonna fire his Noble Phantasm now?!" Shirou said. Apparently he and Rin had caught up with the three Servants.

"That's right," Archer said. "And by the looks of it, that's a pretty highly ranked Anti-Fortress Phantasm too."

" _Please_ don't tell me that's what I think it means," Shirou said nervously.

"'Fraid so," Archer answered. "Fortunately, I might be able to stop it."

"Do it!" Saber shouted. Archer chuckled and aimed at Berserker's head. He spent a few seconds longer lining up his shot, before smirking and pulling the trigger. With a different retort than before, a bullet glowing a soft purple shot just below the ball of energy, slamming into Berserker's mask. The bullent didn't pierce the mask, but it did explode, causing Berserker to stumble and breaking what little concentration he could muster. But instead of dissipating, the ball of energy exploded right into Berserker's face, knocking out several nearby streetlights and kicking up a large dust cloud.

"Is he dead?" Rin asked nervously.

Archer scoffed. "I wish."

Striding out of the fog, Berserker looked worse for wear. What remained of the black kimono was singed, his white skin was covered in burns, the mask's right horn was completely gone, and the area of his mask covering his right eye was shattered, revealing a madness-filled eye, with black sclera and golden yellow irises. With a gesture, Berserker's sword flew from where it lay on the ground into his hand. Dark red energy began to surge from the blade, but it stopped as suddenly as it started. Berserker tilted his head, as if listening to something, before growling and disappearing in a flash of gold.

The remaining four sighed in relief, even Shirou, who only had a vague idea as to what the golden flash meant. Archer pulled a flask out of his shirt and began to drink in celebration.

* * *

"So, Master," Saber said, sitting crosslegged across from Shirou back in the Emiya compound. "How much did Rin explain to you?"

"Shirou is fine," he said. "And Rin explained the concept of the Grail War to me. She was just about to explain Servants and Noble Phantasms to me when you defeated Berserker."

"Gotcha!" Saber said. "Servants are recordings of heroes from other worlds and timelines by the Holy Grail. Seven of us are summond per Grail War, one of each class; Archer, Lancer, Saber, Berserker, Rider, Caster, and Assassin. Each class has general skills shared among most members of that class called Class Skills. For example, as a Saber my two Class Skills are Riding- how well I can ride mounts and drive vehicles- and Magic Resistance- what magic I can completely cancel out. On top of that, there are Personal Skills, basic abilities not eligible to be a Noble Phantasm. For instance, I have a Personal Skill that makes me a lot faster in water and prevents me from drowning. You got all that, Shirou?"

Shirou nodded. "Noble Phantasms are where things get more complicated," Saber continued. "A Noble Phantasm is a special ability completely unique to that specific Servant, because they're based on special weapons, abilities, or feats of that Servant. For instance-" here Saber pulled out his sword, "-this sword is called Brotherhood, and it's one of my Noble Phantasms. It boosts my striking power slightly when is swing it, and it creates and detonates a small, high-pressure water bubble when I hit an opponent. Noble Phantasms are ranked from E- to A++, with EX above that. Skills are also ranked like that. A second ranking system unique to Noble Phantasms is theier type. Different types of Noble Phantasms are better at different things; for instance, an Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm is good at taking out single targets, while Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasms are good at taking out fortresses. Brotherhood is an Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm. You understand all that?"

"It's a lot to take in, but yeah," Shirou nodded.

"Great! Now we can go over my favorite part of the Grail War!" Saber said with fake cheer. "Tactics!"

Shirou groaned.

* * *

 **And an end to Chapter 3! I'm really churning these out, huh? Unfortunately, Chapter 4 will be slightly delayed compared to my usual pace because I'm taking the SAT in a couple of days and I need to study.**

 **Also! I will be releasing Servant sheets at the end of this fanfic, in case you were wondering.**


	4. Chapter 4: Assassin

Shirou's instructions to Saber were clear- he could wander around Fuyuki as much as he wanted, as long as Saber was back at the Emiya compound at five in the afternoon and as long as he answered Shirou's summons. Saber had no intention to break the latter instruction, but the former... Saber was willing to push that one, but not just yet. Sighing in content, Saber crossed his arms behind his head. He wasn't in his battle gear, but instead a less conspicuous white hoodie and blue jeans. After a somewhat awkward conversation with Taiga Fujimura, Shirou's guardian, Saber had also received a leather wallet with what was apparently a decent amount of money; according to Shirou, it had 20,000 yen in it. Sure, Saber knew what the word "yen" meant and roughly how that stacked up to other major currencies thanks to the Grail, but the currency he was used to was not a major currency in this world, if it even was a currency at all.

Saber shrugged. If Shirou thought that 20,000 yen was enough money for a few days like he said, then Saber wouldn't think about it too much. He had a city to explore.

* * *

It took a few hours before Saber found something that captured his interest. He went into a sports bar to grab something to eat (because Shirou was incapable of providing prana for him), and saw on a nearby television what appeared to be two teams of different colors kicking a small ball back and forth on a field- soccer, the Grail supplied.

"That's pretty cool," Saber said to himself. "Reminds me of Bliztball."

"It does, huh?" A second, familiar voice said. Slumped in the seat across from Saber was Archer, in his battle gear save for his cape; his sword was also nowhere to be seen. Directly in front of him were a few glasses of whiskey.

"I didn't steal your seat, did I?" Saber asked. Archer waved his hand dismissively.

"So what if you did?" He asked. "I was gonna start looking for ya soon, anyways."

Saber nodded. His face then lit up. "So, you know Blitzball?"

Archer shook his head. "Nah. But it's nice finding out this world has stuff that's similar to your own."

"You find something like that?" Saber asked.

"All this," Archer waved to the glasses of whiskey, "is roughly equivalent to a glass of whiskey from my world."

Saber raised an eyebrow. "You sound like you're okay with that. I know some people that would not be okay with that."

Archer shrugged. "Alcohol _needs_ to be stronger in my world."

At that, Archer grabbed a glass and practically threw it down his throat. He paused for a second before doing the same with two more. Saber shrugged.

"Anyways, a good way to think of Blitzball is as a cross between free diving, soccer, and football," Saber said. "It's really fun once you get a hang of it."

Archer nooded. He opened his mouth to say something, before closing it again.

"Feel that, kid?" Archer asked.

"Feel what?" Saber asked.

"Focus on your magical senses," Archer said. Saber nodded and closed his eyes, his brow furrowed in concentration. He could feel a Servant's presence in front of him, Archer's, although it was slightly... fuzzy was the best word for it. Weird.

Figuring that's not what Archer wanted him to focus on, Saber exented his senses further. There was some variation among the bar's patrons, not enough to bring alarm. A lot of them probably had some ancestor who was a mage, but not them. They probably-

Then Saber felt it. A fuzzy feeling, far stronger than Archer's, washed over him. Saber had to strain his senses to actually get a direction the fuzziness was coming from; aparently it was somewhere behind Saber.

"Assassin," Saber said. Archer nodded.

"Figured that's who it was," he said. He then downed the rest of his whiskey and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Saber asked him.

"I'm gonna go figure out we aren't dead yet," Archer said. "Comin' with?"

* * *

About half an hour had passed since Archer and Saber began their search. Saber figured that because Assassin hadn't killed them yet, they wanted to talk, but since Assassin also hadn't revealed themself, they also wanted to test Archer and Saber. Archer just tgought that Assassin wanted to kill them in a place no one could see, as to preserve the secret of the Grail War.

Whatever the reason for Assassin's odd behavior, Saber and Archer searched for them. And, standing in front of an alley with a large dog dozing against a wall, they were discussing whether or not to go in.

"What's the harm?" Saber asked.

"The harm is that we're both pretty certain that Assassin is in here," Archer said. "I like being alive, so I don't think we should go in there."

"But we're Servants," Saber countered. "We can take another Servant on; and even then, it's Assassin."

"Fine," Archer grunted, summoning his sword. Saber shifted into his battle gear and summoned Brotherhood, in order to help Archer's nerves. Archer drew a breath to steel his nerves, then walked into the alley, Saber falling in step next to him. Archer raked his eyes across the alley; nothing. Odd, because both Archer and Saber had figured that Assassin was in here. Granted, their magical senses were nowhere near as good as a Caster's but they had still been able to somewhat sense Assassin's presence emanating from this alley.

"Greetings, Archer, Saber," came a voice. Suddenly standing a few feet in front of them- in an area Archer had been looking straight at- was a man dressed in black attire that was obviously to both Archer and Saber ninja gear. Yet, there were some odd things attached to the ninja's gear that a regular ninja would not have. The mask over his mouth and nose had beautifully painted gears across it, while a tuft of pink fur wrapped around his right forearm, and the corner of the ace of spades peeked out of one of the many pouches covering his body. On his left ring finger was a silver ring with a glittering ruby set in it.

"I guess you're Assassin," Saber said matter-of-factly. The man nodded.

"I observed your fight against Berserker last night," Assassin said. "After discussing it with my Master, he has requested that I challenge one of you in a spar, in order to gauge your effectiveness in combat for an alliance ."

"Give us a moment," Archer said, putting an arm around Saber. Assassin nodded, turning and walking a few feet away so the other two Servants could talk.

"If you want to challenge Assassin, go ahead," Saber said.

"I was actually going to ask you to challenge him," Archer said. "I have a Noble Phantasm that activates randomly, and Rin wants me to keep its abilities a secret."

"Right," Saber said. "Let me run this by Shirou."

' _Hey, Shirou?_ ' Saber asked telepathically.

' _Yes, Saber?_ ' Shirou said.

' _Me and Archer just met Assassin_ ,' Saber said. ' _He's offered to join our alliance if I beat him in a spar. You okay with that?_ '

' _Sure_ ,' Shirou said eventually. ' _T_ he _more allies we have, the better._ '

Saber smiled and nodded. "Assassin!" He called out. The ninja turned.

"I accept your challenge!" Saber said. Assassin nodded.

* * *

It had been decided that the spar would take place outside of the Emiya compound. Saber and Assassin stood roughly thirty feet from each other. The spar would end when either five minutes passed, or one Servant surrendered. Shirou held a stopwatch he had found in his hand.

"Ready?" Shirou asked. The two Servants nodded. Shirou clicked the stopwatch. "Begin!"

Assassin and Saber's hands shot forwards at the same time.

" _Slow!_ " Saber shouted.

The spell took hold, but not on Assassin. The spell's indigo aura instead lit up in the space between the two Servants, revealing a red, five-pointed shuriken. Once the aura faded, it fell to the ground and skidded a few feet where it would have hit Saber's shoe had he not already been in motion to dodge the shurikens Assassin had begun to throw at him, the orange glow of his _Haste_ spell flashing up around his body periodically.

When one shuriken shot into Saber's path just ahead of him, Saber stopped and swung Brotherhood at the shuriken. With a clang and the sound of a bubble popping, the red throwing star rocketed back at Assassin. He dodged, but it allowed Saber to close the gap.

When he went to slash at Assassin, the other Servant whistled sharply. With a thunderous bark, a monstrous dog- the same dog that had been outside Assassin's alley- leapt in front of Assassin and caught Brotherhood in his jaws. He then whipped his head to the side, slinging Saber and Brotherhood to the side.

"Good dog," Assassin said, throwing more shurikens at Saber's prone form. Before any of them could reach Saber, he slammed Brotherhood into the ground. The exploding water blasted Saber to the side, allowing him to roll to his feet. He then began to run at Assassin.

" _Quick Hit!_ " Saber shouted once he closed half the distance. His form blurred as he shot at Assassin, stopping just short of him. He swung Brotherhood in an overhead arc, shouting in extertion as he slammed down at Assassin. Suddenly two long daggers were in Assassin's hands, crossed into an overhead block. His knees buckled slightly at the force of the blow, but he stood strong.

With a grunt and a shower of sparks, Assassin disengaged, knocking Brotherhood to the side. He held it there with one dagger against the blade, striking at Saber's face with the other. Saber leaned back just far enough to dodge the slash, then spun aroun to bring Brotherhood in a powerful side slash.

" _Delay Buster!_ " Saber shouted with this strike, the blade lighting up with a sickly green aura. Assassin took a step back to avoid the attack, then slammed his daggers on either side of the blade once it was pointing straight at him. He quickly twisted the daggers in such a way that it would cause Saber's wrist to flip over, making extremely easy to disarm Saber.

Before Assassin could finish the turn, Saber smirked. With dual popping noises, Assassin's two daggers shot out of his grip. One slammed into the ground, the other flying into the night sky from the water's force. Before Assassin could react, Saber held Brotherhood up to Assassin's neck.

"I yield," Assassin said. Saber nodded and brought Brotherhood back down to his side. Assassin reached down and pulled his dagger out of the ground. Saber swung Brotherhood above his head, the sound of clashing metal drawing everyone's attention. Assassin's other dagger bounced off Brotherhood, allowing Saber to catch it. He flipped it around in his hand so he was holding it by the blade and offered the hilt to Assassin. The ninja grabbed the dagger, and turned to face Shirou. Once he made eye contact, Assassin bowed to Shirou.

"Until we defeat Berserker," Assassin said, "my blades are yours."

* * *

 **And that's it for chapter 4 of Fate/story breaker! Sorry for the relatively long wait, but in addition to the SAT, rehearsals for my Theatre class have started, so I've had less time to write. Also, my pace will be slowing down in general so I can focus more on school.**

 **This isn't over, it'll just be a bit longer until I do finish this and (gasp!) the eventual prequel! No spoilers, but it will be in that prequel that the issue of catalysts will be addressed, among (many, many) other things.**

 **And there's also a new Servant, but unlike the others, I've taken a few liberties with his design. Feel free to guess who he is, but remember I will not say who's right. Spoilers and all that.**


	5. Chapter 5: Rider

Something about the school set Rin's teeth on edge. She wasn't quite sure, but it seemed like magecraft- pretty potent magecraft at that. Maybe it was an old mage's Workshop, reawakened by the Grail War. That certainly didn't make sense, but considering this Grail War was fifty years too early, lots of things didn't make sense. If that was the case, then certainly nothing would happen when Rin stepped through the gate into the school, right?

The instant she set foot in the school's courtyard, Rin knew that this was not a Workshop at all. The sheer amount of prana her magical senses picked up almost overwhelmed her.

' _Some kind of Noble Phantasm,_ ' Rin thought. ' _That's what this is. There's no mages in Fuyuki this powerful... right?_ '

As absorbed into her thoughts Rin was, she didn't feel the two blue eyes boring into her from above, nor did she hear the low mutter from the owner of those eyes.

"That's the second one..." they muttered.

* * *

During lunch, Rin dragged Shirou to the school's roof, under the excuse to the others that he had asked her for help with his homework. The real reason was anything but.

"A Noble Phantasm?" Shirou asked incredulously.

"That's right," Rin said. "I haven't observed any effects on the regular humans in the school, so I'm going to assume that whatever the Noble Phantasm does, it's not finished yet."

"Is there any way we can stop it?" Shirou asked.

"Thankfully yes," Rin said. "But it won't be easy. Near as I can figure, it's some type of ritual, which means sigils. If we can find the sigils and destroy them, the ritual should destabilize."

"I guess the problem is finding them," Shirou said. Rin nodded.

"It'll take a lot of power to scan for these sigils," she said. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to use that spell right here because of Archer; I'll need to go home and cast the spell. And I don't want to do that because we have no idea when this ritual will finish."

"So we're working with an unknown time limit," Shirou sighed, leaning back on his palms. He flinched and pulled his hand back when he touched something sticky.

"Shirou?" Rin asked, looking at his hand strangely. "Put your hand back where it was and keep it there."

Shirou shrugged, and put his hand back on the sticky area. As soon as he did, Rin gasped. Shirou turned his head to look, and just a few inches away was a strange, glowing, blue mark. The mark was a set of three triangles, one above the other two in a way so that the tops of the bottom two triangles touched the bottom two tips of the top triangle. Each triangle was as large as Shirou's outstretched hand.

"That has to be a sigil!" Rin cried, rushing over to the mark. She slapped her palm in the area between the three triangles, which was shaped like an upside down triangle, and concentrated. Lightning crackled around the sigil for a few seconds, before with a final snap the sigil faded. As soon as the sigil faded, the sticky feeling went away.

"Do you feel anything when you put your hand where it is?" Rin asked suddenly.

"Yeah," Shirou said. "It felt sticky, like I'd put my hand on some gum or something."

Rin's eyes went wide. "So, you're saying that you can naturally detect these sigils?" She asked.

"I guess so," Shirou said, looking at his hand.

"Meet me outside the gates after school," Rin said. "We're going sigil hunting."

* * *

Rin panted in exhaustion. She sat down hard, her fingers tingling from the prana that she had been shooting through them.

"That's the sixteenth one," Shirou said. "Seventeen, counting the one we got at lunch."

Rin wiped her brow, pulling some of her sweat-drenched hair out of her eyes. The sigils were reappearing as soon as they destroyed the next one, which hopefully meant that the Servant that was doing this was nearby. The only other option was that this Noble Phantasm was self-propagating, and that opened another can of worms that neither Rin nor Shirou wanted to deal with. Even if the Servant was Caster, they would be annihilated in combat against them, likely without a second thought.

How on Earth could they stand up to a Servant that powerful?

With a sigh, Rin rose to her feet. They would cross that bridge when they got there. The eighteenth (technically the seventh) sigil awaited.

* * *

At the beginning of the fourth lap, Shirou decided to make a map of where the ten sigils were. There were four sigils that marked the perimeter of the school in a rectangle, likely the outer limits of the Noble Phantasm. The remaining six formed the three interconnected triangles of the sigils. Midway through the third lap, Archer and Saber showed up, curious as to what was happening. Assassin showed up not much later as well.

"It's likely that we need to destroy all of the sigils at once," Assassin said eventually.

"How do you know that?" Rin asked him.

"Let's just say I have some experience with disrupting rituals," Assassin said, the tone in his voice denoting a nostalgic smile. As soon as he said that his eyes widened. He tackled Rin to the ground, an arrow piercing his calf. Had Rin still been standing, she would have been shot between th eyes.

"Well, that's unfortunate," a voice said. Stepping around a corner was a student, with blue hair and a smug expression.

"If Assassin wasn't there, you'd be dead, Rin," he said.

"Shinji?" Shirou asked. "You're a Master?"

"That I am," the student, Shinji, said. "And I'm the Master of the strongest Servant in this war!"

"So if we kill you, we kill Berserker," Archer said, hefting his sword. Shinji's smug grin only grew more smug.

"Who said Berserker's the strongest Servant?" He said.

"Then who is?!" Saber shouted.

"Rider!" Shinji called out. "Get down here!"

A figure leapt from the rooftop of a building across the street. They started to free fall, but a cloak that suddenly appeared around them caused them to glide and land right next to Shinji. With a flash of golden prana, the white and blue cloak vanished.

Rider was male. Brown leather gloves covered his hands, and he wore boots of the same color. Baggy white pants covered his legs, and over his torso was a short sleeved green tunic. The tunic was well worn, with haphazard stitching where holes used to be. Long white sleeves poked out from the tunic's short sleeves and tucked themselves into Rider's gloves. From a mass of shaggy brown hair two pointed ears poked out, and on top was a pointed, floppy, green hat.

"Sorry for this," Rider said. He reached into a small pouch at his hip and pulled out a purple-hilted sword, far bigger than the pouch's size, the blade glowing a soft white.

"But you're my Master's enemies, which means you have to die," Rider said.

* * *

 **And that's the end of Chapter 5 of Fate/story breaker! I don't really have much to say this time, but I really appreciate all of you that follow, favorite, and review. It's those things that keep me motivated to keep writing this. So thank you.**

 **As always with a new Servant, feel free to guess who Rider is!**


	6. Chapter 6: Blitz Off

Rider was proving to be incredibly difficult to beat. He had blocked or dodged every attack the three other Servants had launched at him, indicating a very highly ranked Eye of the Mind or similar skill. Both Saber's spells and Archer's enchanted bullets either slid off Rider like water or fizzled out before they could touch him. Even Assassin's rank in Presence Concealment did nothing to protect him from Rider's detection. Thankfully for them, Rider seemed inclined to stay in close quarters, as none of them would have had an effective way of dealing with him at range.

Somewhat ironically considering his class, Archer was the best at fighting Rider close range. His sword was both longer and wider than Rider's, allowing him to be more effective on defense than his two allies. He would attempt to keep Rider's attention to allow Saber or Assassin to attack Rider from other angles. This, however, did not work very well; while they could get the odd glancing blow in, Rider was simply too good to beat.

With a rush of displaced air, Saber appeared directly behind Rider, Brotherhood raised for an overhead strike. Without even looking, Rider threw his right arm over his head. With a shimmer of golden prana, a small, blue kite shield appeared on his arm. Brotherhood slammed against it, the water from its enchantment splashing back into Saber's face.

Almost immediately afterwards, Assassin appeared behind Rider, his knives shooting towards his back. In Rider's shield hand, there was another flash of golden prana.

" _Nayru's Love_ ," Rider said, and suddenly a glowing, blue, crystalline shield shimmered to life around him. Assassin's knives glanced off it, throwing off blue sparks as they crashed into it. At almost the same time, Saber felt himself slow down dramatically. Frantically, he swung his arm in a wide arc, targeting himself, Archer, and Assassin with his next spell.

" _Hastega_!" He shouted. Saber had quickly discovered that, without Hastega's effects, the trio of Servants could not keep up with Rider's sword skills and reaction time; with the spell, they could just barely keep up. This time, it was Assassin who was on the defensive, his knives flashing in the setting sun. Occasionally Archer or Saber would take a shot at Rider, but the crystalline shield held strong.

And suddenly everything went wrong.

Even with his senses enhanced by Hastega, Saber barely saw what happened. Rider forced Assassin to step back, but when he did, a loose bit of concrete was what Assassin stepped on. His foot shot out from beneath him, the concrete fragment skittering away. Before anyone else could react, Rider plunged his sword into Assassin's chest. The force of the blow caused the blade to stick itself up to the hilt, a good three feet of softly glowing metal sticking out of Assassin's back. Rider regarded the man on his blade, who was struggling to breathe. After a few seconds, Rider yanked his sword back out, splattering blood all over his blade. With a hissing, bubbling noise, said blood boiled off of it.

"Grab Assassin," Saber ordered. "I'll hold Rider off."

"No you're not," Archer said. "I'm better on defense than you."

"And I have a Noble Phantasm that'll help me out," Saber smirked. Archer's shoulders tightened.

"Don't worry," Saber said. "I've got this."

"...fine," Archer said after a few seconds. He grabbed Assassin, and dashed back to wherever Shirou and Rin had run off to. Saber turned back just in time to see Rider leaping through the air at him, his sword reeled back for a powerful blow. Saber brought Brotherhood around and slammed it into Rider's side. With a low popping sound, Rider shot sideways across the courtyard. He stopped himself by planting his sword into the ground.

"Interesting," Rider said. "Your sword gets around my Magic Resistance by only creating a high-pressure water bubble with its magic. The actual explosive force of the bubble popping isn't magical in any sense, letting it bypass Magic Resistance."

Rider yanked his sword out of the ground. "But if that's your Noble Phantasm you spoke of, it won't help you."

Saber just smiled. With a flash of bright blue prana, Brotherhood dematerialized. Saber, meanwhile, dropped to what looked like the starting position for a runner. The same bright blue prana began to surge from his hands and feet. Eyes widening, Rider began to rush Saber.

" **Blitzball Sphere** ," Saber said. His bright blue prana seemed to form a wave, and it completely engulfed Rider.

* * *

Rider was floating in a giant sphere of water, held in by glass. He could just make out stadium seating outside of the sphere, but the seats were empty. He could still feel his Noble Phantasm charging, but it was... muffled.

' _A Reality Marble then_ ,' Rider thought. ' _This Saber's going to be harder to deal with than I thought_.'

Speaking of Saber, at speeds far faster than he had shown before, he shoulder checked Rider, sending him spinning head over heels in the water. Before Rider could get his bearings, Saber was suddenly beneath him, swinging up with Brotherhood. The blast sent Rider slamming into the glass clear across the sphere of water, cracking it. Quickly, the glass repaired itself.

Rider spun from the impact, but his danger sense finally kicked in; unfortunately for Rider, Saber was directly behind him. Another swing from Brotherhood sent Rider spiralling upwards, but a flash of gold prana around Rider's feet stopped his ascent. His boots, previously made of leather, were now made of some kind of metal, heavy enough so that Rider sank like a stone. This threw Saber off, who rocketed past a few feet above Rider. Rider knew he only had a few seconds to find a way to turn the tables.

Thankfully for Rider, he did have a solution. Golden prana filled Rider's hands, before coalescing into a mask. The mask was white, with a face somewhere between that of a human and a fish. It had four fin-like structures coming from the temples and sweeping back, two on each side. Bracing himself, Rider put the mask onto his face. Purple mist erupted from Rider's pores, obscuring his body entirely, save for the mask. Rider then threw his head back, letting out a cry of pain.

As suddenly as it appeared, the mist faded. Rider's face now matched that of the mask's, fins and all. A single, larger fin extended from the back of his head and faded from white to green as it got longer, just like Rider's regular hat. His skin was just as stark white as the rest of the mask, and two long fins protruded from his elbows. Wrapped around his waist was a length of green cloth, and he still wore his leather boots.

Rider's danger sense alerted him to Saber coming in from his right. With a thought, the fin on Rider's right elbow grew large enough to cover his entire body, should he hide behind it. He swung this fin into a defensive position. When Brotherhood crashed into it, the impact sent Rider floating back a few feet, nothing major while underwater. Brotherhood's enchantment similarly had little effect on him.

As quickly as the fin extended, it contracted back to its original length. Rider somersaulted in the water, before shooting forwards, his body parallel to the ground. When he sensed Saber coming in for another pass he made a sharp turn so he was swimming straight at him. At the last second, Rider spun in the water, causing him to just barely graze each other. As he spun, electricity crackled around Rider, jumping out to shock Saber. However, the electricity faded and failed to strike Saber, his Magic Resistance canceling it out.

Rider shot to the glass bottom of the sphere, moving erratically to dodge Saber's passes. As soon as Rider's boots touched the glass, a skeleton of a long-tailed fish appeared with a flash of golden prana in Rider's hands. He reached out and plucked the fish's ribs, and it made a sound like an acoustic guitar. Rider played a short, simple song. As soon as the final note rang out, the area around him seemed to warp to Rider's eyes.

Suddenly, Rider shot from where he stood, far faster than he had moved before. Saber just barely twisted out of the way of Rider's charge in time, the electricty nipping at Saber's body. Unfortunately for Saber, Rider was also far more agile as well. He tackled Saber hard enough to send him flying through the glass sphere. As soon as Saber landed in the stadium seats, everything turned bright blue.

* * *

Saber groaned, lying on his back in the school's courtyard. Rider, now back to his normal form, stood over him. He held his sword high, the tip pointed at Saber's chest. Wordlessly, he plunged it downwards.

"Rider!" Shinji called out. "We're leaving!"

Rider stopped his sword, the tip hovering a fraction of an inch from Saber's chest.

"Why?" He asked. "We have Saber right where we want him. He's unable to stop me from killing him."

"Saber isn't a threat," Shinji said. "Once we're done here, nothing will be able to stand in our way!"

"But if we kill Saber here that will be one less Servant to worry about," Rider said. "It's the smartest tactical move to kill Saber now. It'd be stupid to not take this opportunity; we might not get it again."

"Enough!" Shinji shouted. He held up his book. "By my Command Seal, Servant Rider, obey me! We are leaving!"

One of the two spiral-like designs on Shinji's book flashed red and faded. Rider grit his teeth, but sheathed his sword and walked over to Shinji. He grabbed his arm and summoned something small to his free hand.

" _Farore's Wind_!" Rider shouted, holding his free hand high. With the sound of howling wind, he and Shinji vanished. Saber looked around to make sure Rider had truly left, before running after where he'd seen the others go. When he arrived just outside the school's gates, he saw Shirou, Rin, and Archer standing around, but no Assassin.

"What happened to Assassin?" Saber asked. "Is he...?"

"No," Rin said, shaking her head. "His Master forced him into spirit form and ordered Assassin to return to wherever their base is."

"I'm guessing the fight with Rider went well," Archer said. "Seeing as you're, you know, not dead."

"Yeah," Saber said. "The only problem is, that was my trump card. I'm probably not gonna be able to summon my Realty Marble again against Rider."

"Then we need to find a way to beat Rider without it," Shirou said.

"And we need to find a way to stop whatever Rider and Shinji are planning," Rin added.

* * *

A man with almost gray skin, hidden halfway in the shadows, let a small grin cross his face, before slinking back into the alleyway.

"Soon," he said.

* * *

 **And that's it for Chapter 6! Not gonna make any excuses for this lapse at all, lots of things happened but I still had time to work on this, but I didn't.**


End file.
